Government and law
- Philo Hall (1886), U.S. Representative from South Dakota and 6th Attorney General of South Dakota
- Sigurd Anderson, 19th Governor of South Dakota
- Ben Reifel (1932), U.S. Representative from South Dakota, first Indian member of Congress
- Francis G. Dunn (1935), Chief Justice, South Dakota Supreme Court
- Andrew Wendell Bogue (1941), Chief Judge, United States District Court for the District of South Dakota
- Gordon Mydland (1944), 23rd Attorney General of South Dakota
- Richard F. Kneip (1945), 6th United States Ambassador to the Republic of Singapore and 25th Governor of South Dakota
- William Dougherty (1954), Lieutenant Governor of South Dakota
- Frank E. Denholm (1956), U.S. Representative from South Dakota
- Kermit A. Sande (1964), 24th Attorney General of South Dakota
- Tom Daschle (1969), United States Majority Leader of the United States Senate and U.S. Representative from South Dakota
- Larry Long (1969), 29th Attorney General of South Dakota
- Randy Seiler, 41st United States Attorney for the District of South Dakota
- Alan Lance (1971), 31st Attorney General of Idaho, Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, and National Commander of The American Legion
- David Gilbertson (1972), current Chief Justice, South Dakota Supreme Court
- Mike Rounds (1976), current U.S. Senator from South Dakota and 31st Governor of South Dakota
- Stephen Censky (1981), former United States Deputy Secretary of Agriculture
- Carole Hillard (1982), Lieutenant Governor of South Dakota
- Kristie Fiegen (1984), Chairwoman of South Dakota Public Utilities Commission
- Gregory J. Stoltenburg (1984), current presiding judge, Third Circuit Court of South Dakota
- Mark Salter (1990), current Associate Justice of the South Dakota Supreme Court
- Jason Frerichs (2007), current South Dakota Senate Minority Leader
- Kristi Noem (2011), 8th Secretary of Homeland Security, former U.S. Representative from South Dakota and first female Governor of South Dakota
- Charles Abourezk, current Chief Justice, Rosebud Sioux Tribe Supreme Court
- Pam Cole, former member of the South Dakota State Senate
